News and Events
It is with pleasure that we announce that effective June 1, 2019, the “Petroleum Geosciences” group of the Northwest Territories Geological Survey (NTGS) will be renamed “Energy Geosciences.”
The Government of Northwest Territories recognizes and embraces the economic and social evolution of the past decades toward renewable and alternative energy resources. This shift is also reflected in the NTGS Five-Year Strategic Plan published in 2017, which includes an expanded mandate for energy research in the Northwest Territories by including geothermal energy research. Currently, the Petroleum...
The Northwest Territories has taken that seriously, employing some of the top geological talent in Canada to get in the field, and map the territory’s prodigious potential.
One such employee is Edith Martel — a Project Geologist at the Northwest Territories Geological Survey.
Martel is currently putting her Masters in Earth Science from the University of Waterloo and 20 years of field experience to work at Nonacho Lake — an under-researched region in the southeast of the Northwest Territories between the East Arm of Great Slave Lake and the Saskatchewan border. This kind of fieldwork is...
Young northerners are breaking new ground and getting geoscience information out to NWT residents. Meet Rebecca Canam and Dawson Stone — two Yellowknifers studying at universities in the South and who have been working for the Northwest Territories Geological Surveys (NTGS) over summer. This year, Rebecca and Dawson independently collected data for their undergraduate thesis projects and presented their research at the 2018 Yellowknife Geoscience Forum.
Dawson, a Sir John Franklin graduate and current University of Alberta student, spent seven weeks helping to map bedrock and investigate...
With the momentum and success of the 2018 Yellowknife Geoscience Forum to build on, the NWT Geological Survey (NTGS) hosted some of Canada’s leading minds in a full day workshop on geothermal energy in the North.
On the docket was an overview of geothermal systems, drilling technology, engineering, and the economics of geothermal projects.
It’s a topic highly-relevant to the NWT. Oil and gas reservoirs often also hold geothermal potential as the locations in which each are found share many similarities. Given the NWT’s well-known oil and gas reserves, geothermal is a natural step in the...
ESRI Canada solicits ArcGIS users each year to submit their work for inclusion in their map calendar. The selected maps illustrate how ArcGIS users across Canada are doing exceptional work that improves our environment, economy, and society through mapping and analytics.
ESRI's 2018 Map Calendar will feature a geology map by the NWT Geological Survey's Geomatics Specialist, Kelly Pierce. The map depicts the detailed geological mapping of 2.6 to 2.7 billion-year-old volcanic rocks in the Sharrie Lake area of the Northwest Territories. This map is one of many excellent peer-...
The Northwest Territories Geological Survey released reports on Carlin-type gold and Mactung tungsten deposit potential.
One report details the potential for Carlin-type gold and clastic-dominated zinc-lead deposits in a region of the Northwest Territories' Mackenzie Mountains.
Two additional reports include a review of field observations and geological knowledge at the Mactung Tungsten skarn deposit as well as a bedrock map covering an area of 44 square kilometres surrounding the deposit. Mactung, currently owned by the Government of Northwest Territories, is home to one of the world’...
Official opening of the Geological Materials Storage Facility in September 2017. The Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to supporting mineral exploration, and with the grand opening of the new NWT Geological Materials Storage Facility, access to geoscience data is now easier than ever before.
The facility houses the largest publically available collection of kimberlites in the world. It will allow analysis of historical core samples to test new mineral exploration ideas at a fraction of the cost of drilling new ones.
Managed by the NWT Geological Survey, the facility...
The release of new data on the Slave Geological Province this summer has led to the largest staking rush in the Northwest Territories since 2014.
The staking rush has contributed to an increase in claim numbers this year. So far in 2017, there have been 184 claims in the NWT totalling 139,019 hectares. In comparison, a total of 83 claims were staked in 2016 totalling 42,404 hectares.
The surge followed the June 22 release of two geophysical reports on the Slave Geological Province by the NWT Geological Survey. During the same timeframe, 45 claim tags were sold and 107 claims maps were...
The Northwest Territories Geological Survey (NTGS) has released the strategic plan that will guide its operations through 2022. Building on a vision first set out in 2011, the five-year plan includes changes to reflect the Government of the Northwest Territories’ post-Devolution jurisdiction over NWT lands and resources. The new plan defines the NTGS mission, vision, and values and presents its scientific program under six goals that align with the mandate priorities of the 18th Legislative Assembly. As this five-year plan comes into effect, the availability of modern, comprehensive...
Two airborne geophysical surveys will provide additional insight for prospectors and mineral development companies interested in exploration in the Slave Geological Province of the Northwest Territories (NWT). The studies, developed by the Northwest Territories Geological Survey (NTGS), provide detailed airborne magnetic and electromagnetic survey data from the promising region.
The reports will be released on June 22, 2017 at 8:30am.
The new reports are entitled:
NWT Open Report 2017-014. Aeromagnetic Survey of the Central Slave Craton Area, NWT, Parts of NTS 75M and 75N.
NWT Open...